One of the banes of work is the commute to and from work. In some congested areas of the United States, commutes can take more than an hour one way, adding time away from home and leisure activities. Usually, an individual has numerous routes that can be utilized to travel to and from work. However, commuters are usually creatures of habit and will tend to utilize one particular route. It is not possible to know whether there is a tie up or accident on the individual's chosen route. Often times, even when listening to the radio newscasts, one will not realize that there is an accident or tie up on the chosen route until the individual is not able to deviate from the chosen route. The individual then ends up mired in traffic. Most commuters would opt to take an alternate route if they knew that their chosen route will add more time to their commute. However, the time to receive that information is before and during the commute, but before the commuter finds herself in a high traffic area. Currently, there are no ways of insuring that timely traffic and transit information reaches commuters.
In a commute to an office, most people drive from side streets, to a highway and on to a centrally located office building. While driving to the highway, the commuter may see or hear a traffic report that will allow the commuter the opportunity to avoid the congested traffic. The drive home is different. For a majority of commuters, the highway or major feeder road portion of the commute begins within moments of leaving the workplace. By the time a traffic report is heard on the radio, it is likely too late for the commuter to choose a different travel route. In addition, most workers do not have access to traffic or news reports until the worker is in the car and on the road.
Furthermore, traffic news reports on the radio or television tend to be general and deal with only major highways. There may be other construction, accidents or tie-ups on side streets which also affect the commute. There is no readily accessible way for a commuter to obtain information about the commuter's specific route, including side streets and the current status of transit options.